EXODUS 2

M iriam watched her mother hide Miriam’s baby brother in a basket and put him in the Nile to protect him from Pharaoh’s soldiers. Miriam was frightened for her baby brother. She stood where she could see the basket and waited.

Suddenly Miriam heard the laughing voices of Egyptian women. As the women came nearer, she saw that it was the princess with her maids! Surely the daughter of Pharaoh would not be kind to a Hebrew boy.

Soon the princess spied the basket. "Get in the water and bring me that basket," she called to one of her maids. The maids slowly lowered herself into the murky water and brought the basket to the princess.

The princess bent down to open the basket. "Why, it’s a child!" she gasped. "It must be one of the Hebrew boys." The baby started to cry. Miriam edged closer as the princess picked up the baby and held him in her arms. "He is a handsome child. Hush, dear thing," the princess cooed, "I won’t harm you. I will keep you and raise you as my own."

Miriam had an idea. "Excuse me ma’am," Miriam said. "Would you like me to get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?" The princess said yes, and Miriam hurried off to find her mother.

And so Moses grew up, cared for by his Hebrew mother but living as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter.

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(From Classic Bible Stories, A Family Treasury retold by Lise Caldwell (c) 1998 Standard Publishing.  Used by permission.  This book may be purchased at your local Christian Bookstore or from Standard Publishing (800-543-1301).